The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
We are in the age of customer empowerment, where customers expect brands to be connected and relevant and to meet their needs at every interaction. To do so, leading marketers are taking a customer-obsessed approach to transforming their business by investing in the data, talents, tools and strategies needed to respond to the needs of the connected customer.
Today, many brands struggle to keep pace with the volume, velocity and variety of data in order to meet customer expectations. According to Gartner research, 90% of the world's data has been created during the past two years. This growth and availability of data has led to an expectation of data usage to enable relevant, personalized experiences. It is not enough to collect and structure the data, it must be acted upon. Consumers expect timely, relevant and seamless brand experiences. Therefore, brands must anticipate and predict their customers' needs, habit, trends and preferences to engage their customers in 1:1 conversation at the right moment of decision making.
As the connected economy marches forward at an accelerating pace, data is proving to be marketing's most valuable currency. Oceans of data generated from the Internet of Things (IoT) will magnify both the problem and the opportunity. But additional data lacks value if it can't be reduced to useful insight that informs a unique, differentiated brand experience.
A phenomenon described as “data paralysis” keeps much of the data unused. While the opportunities are vast, as the volume, variety and velocity of data generated from a connected economy explodes, digital marketing becomes increasingly difficult. By some measures, the amount of stored information grows four times faster than the world economy, while the processing power of computers grows nine times faster. It's little wonder marketers struggle with information overload that ironically reduces them to data paralysis where the benefits from data are never fully realized. In part, this scenario stems from a lack of the right mix of algorithms and technology for translating big data to actionable intelligence.